


211: Showing Real Initiative

by harlequin (julie)



Series: Season 2 [11]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angry Sex, M/M, Power Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-08
Updated: 2009-12-08
Packaged: 2017-11-06 11:01:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/418147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julie/pseuds/harlequin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur is rather aggrieved with Merlin, and they have different ideas about how to resolve the situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	211: Showing Real Initiative

**Author's Note:**

> _This is rather more angsty than recent instalments_. I felt the two young men needed a crisis in their relationship - and based on the nature of this episode, maybe the _Merlin_ writers did, too.

♦

‘Take off your britches,’ Arthur ordered in cold tones late that night. ‘In fact, take off all your clothes.’

Merlin baulked a little, and set to the task with slow reluctant fingers. ‘Arthur… I realise you’re unhappy. You’re angry. With me. With your fa–’

‘Shut up, Merlin.’

‘But is this really what you want to do about it?’

‘I told you to be quiet!’ Arthur paced away for a moment, frowning, but then soon turned back to face him. ‘And I told you to take off your clothes,’ he insisted with a hint of venom that Merlin hadn’t heard directed towards him for many long months now.

Merlin finally stripped off his tunic, and propped his rear on the bed to begin drawing off his boots. ‘Arthur –’

‘You _said_ you’d be anything I need you to be.’

‘Well, yes, I…’

‘Right now I need you to be the creature that I –’

_‘Arthur,’_ Merlin said, cutting across him. Which was a risk, but he knew that even Arthur would regret having certain things said, once the urgency had passed. ‘ _You_ said that you liked me loving you.’

‘What of it?’

‘You don’t want that to change, do you?’

Arthur considered him with something remote in his eyes. ‘But you _won’t_ stop loving me. Will you,’ he added in remorseless tones. It wasn’t a question.

‘No,’ Merlin replied equably. ‘But you might stop liking it.’

‘ _Stop_ trying to be clever, Merlin. For god’s sake! I just want to fuck you. You don’t usually have a problem with that.’

Merlin stilled, sitting there in his britches, with his feet and his chest and arms bare. ‘You want to punish me.’

‘And what if I do? You’re my _servant_. There are times you forget that! I’ve grown far too lenient. I trust you – and half the time you end up making me look a complete fool.’

‘Arthur, if you do this you’ll just be punishing yourself.’

The prince glared furiously at him, and strode over. Stood over him with a finger jabbing into the air between them as he made each point. ‘ _Stop_ trying to be clever. You’ve been _horribly_ incompetent lately. You’ve embarrassed me before people I – _And get those blasted britches off!_ Or do you want to fail me at this as well?’

Merlin set his jaw stubbornly, and stood up, forcing the prince to take a step back. He began working at the fastenings to his britches, though his fingers were even clumsier than usual.

The prince continued in a tone that ached with frustration and anger – and yearning. ‘I thought we’d reached… some kind of… _understanding!_ I thought that –’

‘What?’

‘That – that I knew you. That you weren’t actually as useless as you seem. There’s – I _thought_ there was something about you, Merlin. I always have. I _thought_ – Well, whatever it was I saw, it’s been noticeably absent lately.’

‘Is that why – Was that why you cared about me?’

Arthur took another step back, and turned away slightly, folding his arms across his chest. ‘Well, if I did, it would have to be based on the assumption that there’s more to you than meets the eye.’

Merlin finally stepped out of his britches and linens, and looked down at himself. He knew he was no great prize, certainly no prince, not even a knight – and Merlin himself had been rather startled the first time he’d seen his face in a mirror, but – ‘I thought that… what met the eye didn’t entirely offend you, my lord.’

Arthur threw a stormy glance at him, and then finally softened a little. ‘It is true, I suppose… that you aren’t _entirely_ offensive to look at.’

Merlin pressed on, in a slightly more tender tone. ‘And you _do_ think there’s more to me than… than you might find in any other servant?’

An intense frown greeted this, though Arthur also softened the tiniest bit further. ‘Is there?’ he asked, half sceptical and apparently half wanting to have this confirmed.

‘Yes,’ Merlin replied, simply and honestly. His heart thudded hard in his chest.

Arthur let a long moment pass.

Merlin was breathless.

But when Arthur spoke, all he said was, ‘Then get onto the bed, damn you. And lie facedown.’

♦

Arthur hadn’t undressed but simply freed himself from his britches. He followed Merlin onto the bed, straddling him on all fours. Merlin turned his face to the side so that he could glimpse the prince. Arthur was frowning down at him in concentration, and reaching down to tug himself into full hardness. It only took three quick strokes. Then Arthur spat into his own hand and swiped it over his cock, shifted down. Merlin opened his thighs, nudging at Arthur’s leg with his own, but Arthur muttered, ‘Stay where you are,’ and Merlin lay straight again, just tilted his rear up as much as he could to meet the prince – who lay close over him, his cockhead immediately nudging at Merlin’s hole as if they’d been formed exactly for this. Arthur grunted as if satisfied at what he found – and then he was pushing in, sliding in in one long thrust –

Merlin called out raggedly. It didn’t hurt, of course, not any more, but there was something sublimely shocking about being possessed so fully, so thoroughly in one sure move. ‘Arthur!’

‘God… god damn you,’ the prince complained hoarsely.

‘Oh!’ as Arthur began moving within him in short relentless jabs. ‘Oh!’ Merlin dragged in a shaky breath as deep as he could. Heat welled through him, lapping out and then rising from where Arthur possessed him. ‘Oh god, Arthur, I…’ He was hard against the bedding, and though he was pushed down firmly by their joined weight, there wasn’t enough friction or movement for the bed clothes or the soft mattress to do more than tease at him. ‘Arthur, I…’

‘Shut up, Merlin.’

‘I wanted this. I want this. God, _Arthur_ …’

‘Shut up!’

‘Afterwards… remember I said that. You’ll want to know – I meant it.’

Arthur growled in frustration and anger. With one long fierce move he shoved himself as deep as he could within Merlin, and then he stilled and from somewhere above Merlin’s head Arthur icily announced, ‘You are mistaken. I do _not_ want you to want this.’

Merlin took a breath. Thought about it. And as Arthur finally began moving again, Merlin whispered, ‘All right.’

And he began struggling.

♦

The prince easily controlled him, of course. When Merlin tried to lift up, Arthur simply placed the heel of one hand between his shoulder–blades and leaned just enough weight into it to keep Merlin pinned. Arthur’s thrusts continued short and hard and remorseless, his hips rocking fluidly, and his legs still in their britches pressing down heavy against the back of Merlin’s thighs. Merlin squirmed, and shifted a hand back, trying to reach for somewhere vulnerable on his assailant, but Arthur simply took that hand in his free one and held it firm against the bed, just back and down far enough that Merlin’s shoulder was stretched to its limit – then deliberately took his hand away from Merlin’s back to restrain his other hand the same way. Merlin wriggled, but could hardly move without causing himself pain. And still those thrusts continued relentless. All Merlin could manage was to weakly drum his heels against Arthur’s rear, but that just made the prince laugh mockingly. Where had the prince learned to possess and control someone so completely? Or was he just acting on instinct, and applying lessons learned in other ways? ‘No!’ Merlin called out – though not loudly enough to reach the guards down the corridor, let alone summon them. ‘ _Sire._ No!’ That made Arthur laugh, too, though there was a hint of appreciation in it now, almost as if despite everything he liked Merlin’s audacity.

Arthur dropped lower, pushed his face in closer – easily dodged Merlin’s wild toss of his head – and muttered in Merlin’s ear, ‘Don’t – **_ever_** – humiliate – me – again.’

‘Master…’ Merlin pleaded.

_‘Do you hear me?’_

‘Yes, master. Please, my lord. _Please_ …’

‘Please what?’

‘Stop… Stop… Hurting me…’

Arthur actually paused for a moment then, gaze raking assessingly across what he could see of Merlin’s face. But Merlin’s mouth was open over his softly panting breath, and he knew his eyes betrayed his desire and devotion as they always did, and his body stretched below Arthur’s was obviously receptive. Arthur took all this in – then growled and lowered his head to bite at Merlin’s throat, to really _bite_ right over where his blood pulsed. Merlin cried out loud and wordless, and squirmed again –

– and then, and then, as Arthur shifted back and out, Merlin summoned all his strength to force the slightest change in how he was held, and he tilted his hips just that little bit further up – and Arthur plunged even deeper within him – and Merlin then bore down on Arthur’s cock with all his might –

– and the prince was _coming, coming, coming_ with a shout both victorious and surrendering torn from his throat, from his very soul.

♦

But almost before he was done, Arthur was lifting up, pulling away – Merlin cried a protest – then flipping Merlin over onto his back, gnawing roughly at his nipples, first one and then the other – Merlin cried out again, though softer, and then he moaned. His cock stood hard between them, as remorseless now in its hunger as Arthur himself had been.

And Arthur – and Arthur – _god!_ – Arthur settled over Merlin’s thighs, and took Merlin’s cock into his mouth – for the first time ever, took his cock into his mouth, and suckled then sucked on it _hard. Hard!_

Merlin wailed – just once, that was all he had time for – and then he was fountaining up into the prince, unable to stop himself pushing up, demanding – but the prince held him down firmly with both hands on his hips, and Merlin bucked up against that, it was beautiful, _beautiful_ – and Arthur swallowed him down, seed and all.

♦

For a long while afterwards they lay tangled together on the bed clothes, silent. Somewhat awed by what they’d done. Exhausted and raw, but still holding each other reassuringly.

‘Well,’ said Arthur eventually. ‘There you go, showing initiative again.’

Merlin grinned at him, glad that Arthur hadn’t started by apologising. That meant he’d understood. ‘I only ever want to serve you, my lord.’ He sighed. ‘To serve you as best I can.’

Arthur pressed a kiss to his temple, and then shifted heavily up onto an elbow. Surveyed Merlin from head to toe and back again with an assessing gaze. Eventually, when he was looking into Merlin’s eyes again, he quietly asked, ‘All right?’

‘Yes,’ said Merlin. ‘Are you?’

‘Yes.’ Arthur shifted up further, though as if really having to force himself to make the effort. ‘Come on. Let’s get into bed.’

Merlin dragged himself after Arthur, and between them they wrestled Arthur’s clothes off, struggling helplessly for a while before tossing them in the general direction of the floor, until at last a naked Merlin could follow a naked Arthur in under the covers. He stretched out by Arthur’s side, stretching _long_ until his bones popped, and then curled into Arthur’s arms. It was warm and gentle, the bed, Arthur’s embrace. ‘Goodnight, sire,’ Merlin whispered, already feeling the tug of sleep.

‘Goodnight, Merlin.’ And then Arthur whispered, ‘Thank you,’ and he pressed a kiss to Merlin’s mouth. His lips still tasted salty with Merlin’s seed.

‘Love…’ murmured Merlin.

‘Yes,’ Arthur agreed.

And the darkness took them away and held them safe.

♦


End file.
